Only Human
by Zarunai
Summary: Even galactic heroes can have a murky past. What is the meaning of human nature in a galaxy filled with many sapient beings? And What does it take to be human? Female Shepard / Earthborn / Sole Survivor


Disclaimer

The Mass Effect game and everything within the Mass Effect universe remains the sole property of BioWare, EA and Microsoft. I do not claim ownership of anything within the game and any other related works produced by above mentioned companies. However, the following story using BioWare's characters and set in BioWare's universe was written by me, and requires my permission before being copied or used in any way.

Author's Note

I have several reasons for writing this fanfic. The first is that Jennifer Hale, the voice actor for the female Commander Shepard, really breathed life into that character for me, that I couldn't help wanting to explore other areas of Shepard's personality. She really gave Shepard a voice, so to speak (double pun, both intended :P ).

The second reason was that I wanted to expand on Shepard's past. There were gaping holes in her past that I really wanted to fill. This is a character that may have saved the galaxy, but how did she come to be the strong willed individual that she is? Shepard has a story, and I wanted to tell it.

Thank you to BioWare, and particularly to Drew Karpyshyn, for creating such a solid interactive work of art featuring one of the best science fiction stories I've witnessed, and some of the most well-rounded and detailed characters and dialogue I've ever seen in a game.

Enjoy the story. It's a work in progress, I'll update when I can. Reviews and feedback always welcome.

Edits

Minor grammatical errors fixed.

Changed Toombs' rank to Corporal, as it should be. - Thanks DhtrofIsis.

**Chapter One**

From the side viewports of the SSV Odessa, helmsman Jacob Osterhoudt had a clear view of the approaching blue and orange planet. Its angle and perspective changed as the frigate made its approach. It didn't look unlike Earth from space, though it's land masses were in different patterns and proportions, and its bodies of water were of a much lesser percentage than those found on Earth. Regrettably, he tore his eyes away from the awe-inspiring sight to focus on the instrument gauges illuminating their colours on the console before him. His fingers danced across the controls as he opened a com channel to the ship's crew.

"Touchdown in T minus 20."

First Lieutenant Ryan Shepard wiggled her aching shoulders as she fastened her utility belt over her standard N7 Alliance Military hardsuit. Twenty minutes and she would be groundside at the head of her squadron. She'd volunteered for this mission. It seemed _important_, and making a difference was something that was important to _her_. Two hours ago, she and her fellow marines had been debriefed on the mission ahead.

The Alliance had lost all radio contact with an entire exploration team, the beginnings of a human colony, on the planet Akuze. The planet was only in the early stages of colonisation, but a research station had been set up there several months ago containing a population of fifteen individuals. All attempts to re-establish a connection with the colony had failed, so Alliance officials had given orders to send in teams for an investigative mission, and potentially a search-and-rescue.

The SSV Odessa was a standard Alliance Navy frigate, usually sent on patrol missions with a handful of other vessels accompanying the SSV Sydney. It had a well-trained crew on board and was often contacted for missions where a groundside threat was expected. The Odessa would deploy two ground teams, Alpha and Bravo, each with six members. Alpha team, with Ryan as the squad leader, would search the surrounding areas of the research station, while Bravo team would search inside the station itself.

"T minus 10," Osterhoudt's voice came over the loudspeaker.

Satisfied that her hardsuit was fully secured, Ryan closed her locker and turned to face her squad mates who were busy fastening their own suits. The sound of heavy rock music through tinny speakers poured out from Corporal Reid's locker.

"What?" he said, bemused, as Ryan just offered a chuckle and shook her head.

"Two years serving aboard this boat, and I don't think I've heard you listen to anything else," she said, a tactful grin in place. "Hell, I probably know all those songs off by heart by now."

Reid threw a grin her way. "It's good music, Ma'am. C'mon, I know you're not the type for that synthesised _fake_ crap. _This_ is _real_ music. Old, but _good._"

"I hear ya, Corporal, but a bit of diversity never killed anyone," she said, checking the digital read-out on her wrist.

"This is the stuff that gets you pumped before a firefight. Gets you in the right head space, y'know?" Reid continued.

"Probably won't even come to a firefight this time around. Just precaution. No-one knows what to expect out there."

"I know, Ma'am, but I'll prepare myself just the same."

Ryan nodded at the lanky redhead. He was a good soldier, sometimes a little too eager and defiant for his own good, but it could be said that Ryan often shared the same traits. At least he wasn't stupid. He'd saved her backside a couple of times out in the field. She trusted him, as she did the rest of her team.

"Anyway, get your asses into gear, soldiers," she said. "We're heading out."

"Aye, aye, Ma'am."

Carrying her helmet under her arm, she made her way to the airlock doors. Captain Saravati was standing by the doors when she arrived. She saluted him respectfully, then busied herself with securing her helmet as he spoke.

"Remember to make contact as soon as you hear _anything_ of the exploration team," he said with his slight Indian accent. "The Odessa and Gallipoli will be orbiting the planet alongside the SSV Sydney, just in case there's any external activity. We need to be prepared for anything at this stage, Lieutenant."

"Yes, Sir."

"We'll be back to pick you up in four hours if we don't hear from you sooner. With any luck, it'll just be an equipment malfunction preventing the pioneer team from being able to make contact. But we won't know for sure until you check the place out, and we're not taking any chances. Those are our people down there."

"Understood, Captain."

The Odessa made a sharp turn and shook slightly as it entered the dusty Akuze atmosphere.

"Approaching LZ," Osterhoudt bellowed from the helm.

"Alpha team to the airlock," The Captain said over his own personal com. "Bravo team, begin preparations."

Through the viewport, Shepard watched as the vessel descended, orange dust blocking most of the view. All members of her squad stood behind her now, suited up and ready to go at her order; Privates McCarthy and Hanway, Gunnery Chief Liang and Corporals Reid and Toombs.

The frigate shook again as its landing gear touched down onto the temporary dropzone set up by the original exploration team.

"Good luck, Lieutenant," The Captain said, giving her a nod as the ship's inner doors opened. She nodded back and led her team into the airlock chamber, the doors closing behind her.

"We're not gonna let this take any longer than it needs to be," Ryan said to her squad, looking at each of them in turn. "But we're going to be thorough. If any of you notice anything out of the ordinary, you speak up about it."

"Understood, Ma'am,"

At the end of the decompression process, the frigate's outer hatch slid open with the sound of shifting air, revealing the dusty Akuze atmosphere before them. The planet contained both green and lush areas as well as dry and dusty areas, just like Earth. Why the pioneer team had initially set up the colony on something that resembled a desert, Ryan wasn't sure, though she guessed it might have something to do with mineral density and its mining potential, as was usually the case.

"Form up," she said to her unit. They fell into a loose triangle, with Ryan at its apex. "Stay close and keep your eyes peeled."

In turn, each marine stepped down onto the orange Akuze sand. Ryan looked around, the fine dust making it hard to see. She held her rifle at the ready and ventured forward, her squad right behind her.

The landing zone was a circular area of flat ground, about three hundred metres in diameter. The original exploration party on the planet had set up a temporary research facility on the eastern side. It consisted of an array of de-mountable metal sheds with interconnecting external tunnels.

"This place sure doesn't touch Earth," Toombs said after a while, receiving vocal agreements from his squad mates.

"People want to colonise this place? The hell for?" Reid said.

"Apparently there's high traces of p-palladium here," McCarthy stuttered, as he usually did.

"Then they should just set up a damn mining camp, and forget about colonising," Toombs argued, lowering his own rifle casually. "No-one wants to live on this piece of shit."

"It's not that bad," Ryan defended. "There's a waterfall a few clicks from here, believe it or not. Heard it's a pretty sight."

"Then why couldn't they set up the damn research station over there instead," Toombs said, the dust obviously making him edgy.

"Shut it, Corporal. Remember why we're here." Ryan's response was firm.

"Yes, Ma'am!"

The marines traversed the sand with careful steps. After a few minutes, Ryan looked behind them into the distance. The LZ and research station were more than a hundred metres behind them now, and she could see the Bravo team pouring out and heading towards the station. Seconds later, the Odessa was airborne again, and seconds after that, it became but a pinhead in the vast sky, then disappeared.

"Alpha team, this is Bravo, approaching the research station now," came Lieutenant Commander Wesley Cooper's voice through the com channel in each marine's suit. He was Bravo's squad leader, and Ryan's superior.

"Roger that, Bravo," Ryan replied. "Keep us posted."

Kilometres into the distance there appeared to be a valley with visible trees and other plant life, but in Alpha team's direct radius, there was nothing but sand. Nightfall would be approaching soon, and night time on Akuze was not short, about fourteen hours to its 20 hour daylight during its current orbit.

"Ma'am, I'm getting some strange readings on the nav," Chief Liang said, staring at the glowing orange screen of his navigation device.

Ryan nodded, inspecting her own device. "Me too, Chief. It's like there's movement and then it just disap-" Her sentence was cut short as her boot snagged on something underfoot. She looked down at the white object peaking out from the orange sand, then squatted to get a closer look. Digging her gloved hands into the ground, she realised what the object was. She pulled it from its home and turned it over in her hand.

Bones.

"Cool, the first Akuze archeological discovery," Reid said, looking over Ryan's shoulder. "Maybe we'll find signs of dinosaurs on this planet, too."

The bone was jagged, small, had obviously been broken away from a much larger piece. Ryan sifted her fingers through the sand to see if there were more pieces awaiting discovery, but there was nothing. She stood, and threw the bone gently back onto the sand. Something else had caught her eye.

"Don'tcha want to keep that?" Reid said, arching a brow. "Might be worth something."

Ryan ignored him, walking hastily towards the glistening object in the sand about ten metres away. It was reflecting the light from the huge red gaseous giant that was Akuze's sun. The sun itself was beginning to disappear over the mountain ridge on the western side. Nightfall was approaching, and with it, the cold. The marines' hardsuits did a good job at regulating body temperature, but the cold often had a tendency to put people on edge, regardless of whether they felt it or not. Like the air would change and a stillness would set in.

"Over here," Ryan said, signalling her squad with a wave of her hand. She knew what the object was before she even reached to pick it up. A Hahne-Kedar Kessler VI, standard Alliance Military pistol.

"Damn," Hanway said at the sight of it. "Reckon it belonged to the colonists?"

"Possibly," Ryan said. "Most of them were researchers, probably carried a small firearm, just in case. A few of them were combat trained. I'm not aware of any other Alliance activity on this planet."

The marines' hardsuit coms buzzed with activity.

"Alpha, this is Bravo. There's no activity inside research station. I repeat, research station is cold. No signs of life."

"I bet they got depressed and just left," Toombs joked. "Probably regretted not building a house with an ocean view."

"Roger that, Bravo," Ryan said through the open channel. "We might have found something, but I'll keep you posted."

"Understood, Alpha. We'll keep searching for clues. Bravo out."

The light was disappearing at a steady rate, overtaken by an eerie blackness that reduced the visibility considerably.

"Check the surrounding area. Use flashlights if you have to. We're not leaving this rock 'til we get some answers," Ryan said, sternly. "They can't have just _disappeared_."

A soft rumble under their feet caught them all of guard.

"The hell was that?" Reid said.

"Quiet," Shepard hissed, holding her hand up. She peered around their location, senses alert, her rifle held securely in her hands. The rumble came again, this time louder and closer than the first, the ground shaking ever so slightly.

"Is th-that an... an... an earthquake?" McCarthy's nerves made him stutter even more than usual.

"Might be," Liang said, reading from his omni-tool. "There's been recordings of seismic activity here. But I can't say for sure."

"Lieutenant!" Toombs yelled, pointing into the distance. It was barely visible through the dust and approaching blackness, but there was definitely something there.

"What is that?" Reid said, squinting into the distance. "It's moving!"

He was right. The large mass ahead of them was moving. It seemed to grow taller, and taller. Then, suddenly, it was sucked back into the sand.

"I'm going to get a closer look," Ryan said, not taking her eyes from where the 'thing' had appeared. "Liang, Toombs, you're with me. "Reid, McCarthy, Hanway, hold your position. I'll give the go-ahead when I find out what this thing is."

"Yes, Ma'am," they replied in unison.

Ryan and the two men carefully walked another ten metres ahead, making their way to a small sand dune about a metre and a half high. Ryan climbed up, standing on the top and peering out into the distance. She couldn't see anything. The 'thing' was gone.

Another rumble, this time so forceful that she had to bend her knees to steady herself on the raised sand so that she wouldn't come crashing down. Before either of the men could speak, orange sand burst up from only metres in front of them, creating a minor sandstorm. An enormous insect-like creature with giant spiky tentacles arose from the ground, towering over them at least ten metres into the sky. It appeared to be just the head, with the rest of its body submerged under the sand beneath. Before any of the marines could react, the giant creature roared furiously, then tilted back its head and launched a green missile-like globule from its mouth.

Ryan's eyes widened. "Go!" she yelled, pushing her fellow marines out of the way as she jumped from the sand dune. The green missile hit the sand where they previously stood, erupting in a mass of green liquid and fumes. The sand quickly eroded, leaving large gaping green holes scattered about.

"Get up and run!" she yelled to them, hauling them up from the ground and pushing them in the direction from which they had come. The trio sprinted south, back towards the rest of their team who appeared to be standing in place firing round after round at the giant beast. "Run!" she yelled to them over the com in her helmet, frantically waving her arm. But they stood their ground, unaware of the imminent danger.

"Bravo, this is Alpha, requesting immediate backup. Sending our location," she yelled into her com. "We've encountered some sort of... creature. I repeat, we request immediate -" she stopped mid-sentence after realising that Toombs was no longer behind her. He was standing firm about ten metres north of their position, shooting at the massive beast. It appeared to be having little effect until it suddenly retreated back into the ground, as though the sand just sucked it back up from where it had come from. For a moment, the planet seemed silent. Weapons fire ceased and the ground was free from vibrations.

Toombs began to laugh, softly at first, but then raising his rifle high into the air with one hand and yelling in triumph.

"I got the bastard!" he yelled, jumping up and down. "I killed it!"

"You don't know that, get your ass over here right now, Corporal!" Ryan screamed over the com. Toombs didn't have time to retort, for another rumble shook the ground beneath them. The creature was on the move again. For a brief moment, Ryan contemplated going back for Toombs, but her decision was made for her. The ground burst up from beneath him, orange dust flying in all directions. Toombs' gurgling screams could be heard over the com. Ryan raised a hand to block the dust from blowing onto her helmet's visor, reducing her visibility even further. What she saw made her guts turn to liquid. Private Toombs was impaled on one of the creature's spiky claws, ten metres above the ground. The creature swirled him around in the air as it moved, as if showing off its new prey. Then it disappeared once again under the soil, taking Toombs with it.

Ryan could feel the acid rise up into her throat. What was she to do? It could appear anywhere at any time. If she could distract it somehow then maybe, just maybe, they would make it out of there alive.

"Bravo to Alpha, we're on our way, Lieutenant. Just hang on."

Ahead of her, McCarthy began to run south, but Reid and Hanway held their positions, guns at the ready.

"Halt! Stand still, Private! And nobody shoot! I think this thing is drawn to sound waves," Ryan said over the com for both teams to hear. She hoped she was right. But McCarthy didn't stop; he just kept running south as fast as the muscles in his legs would go.

"McCarthy!" she hissed, but again the ground rumbled, and again she knew she was powerless to do anything. Sand errupted just inches in front of McCarthy, spiked claws bludgeoning and stabbing the junior officer. His screams were almost deafening over the com, for everyone to hear.

"Shit," Shepard whispered.

"Alpha, we have visual," came Cooper's voice. "We're heading your way. What _is_ that thing?"

The gigantic beast turned its head and hurled a globule of acid towards Reid and Hanway. They both somersaulted out of the way in opposite directions, just before the acid hit the ground, eating away at the orange sand. Instinctively, both soldiers begin firing at the beast. Hanway cussed loudly as her rifle overheated, but took the opportunity to snag a grenade and throw it at the giant creature. Her aim was true and it detonated upon impact with the beast. Then, as the giant creature retreated underground, another one emerged just metres from her position, even bigger than the last.

"Fuck me," Liang said from behind Shepard. "I think we're right on top of some sort of _nest_."

The pair watched in horror as the creature impaled Hanway with one of its spikes and tossed her aside several metres. Her body crashed to the ground loudly with a single groan over the com, and then silence. Suddenly, Bravo team were on the scene. The sound of blazing assault rifles ripped through the night air, drowning out the angry roars of the giant beasts.

"The guns aren't working, Bravo!" Ryan spat over the com. "We're gonna have to find some other way to take 'em down."

"I'll contact the air team," Cooper responded. "We'll blast the fuckers from the sky. Get your squad out of there, Lieutenant."

"Roger that."

The previous acid blast had separated Hanway and Reid by about eight metres. Reid began to run south towards the research facility once again, firing his rifle in bursts behind him. His accuracy was way off and the sound and vibrations were getting the creature's attention.

"Reid, don't be a hero!" Ryan yelled.

"It's okay, Lieutenant. You and Liang get out of there while I have this one's attention," he yelled back, confidently. He continued to run, not too far from the research station now. Just another twenty metres and he would be back on safe ground.

More vibrations under their feet, and one of the beasts errupted from the sand behind Liang and Ryan.

"Okay, now we run!" Ryan yelled, shoving Liang in front of her and pushing him forward as they sprinted in the same direction as Reid. Ryan caught a flash of green behind her as they ran. "Liang, starboard!" She yelled, hitting the ground hard herself and throwing her body into a somersault. The green missile flew right past her, but Liang wasn't quick enough. It hit him clean in the back of the shins and he tumbled forward, grasping his thighs in pain. "Don't touch it!" Ryan yelled, but doubted he could hear her. His cries of pain came loud and clear as the acid ate away at his legs.

Instinct taking over, Ryan unclasped a grenade from her utility belt and threw it into the distance between both of the beasts. The one nearest her disappeared under the ground as the grenade exploded, and she took the opportunity to hoist Liang over her shoulder, running as fast as she could under his weight to the research station ahead. Twenty metres in front of her, Reid was running from the first beast, dodging balls of acid as they were fired at him. He was quick and mentally alert, but his stamina was faltering.

"Alpha, we'll distract it. The Odessa and Gallipoli are on their way. Get your men out of the hot zone!"

Bravo team was surrounding the creature now, squeezing off round after round at it, with minimal effect. It just roared in anger at them, hurling globules of acid their way. Then, without warning it disappeared. The stillness returned.

"Where the fuck did it go?" Cooper yelled, his squad looking around nervously.

Ryan wasn't sure whether to tell them to run or to hold their positions. From what she's witnessed, the creature could sense the vibrations of a running marine and would re-surface from underneath anything that moved or made a sound. But it probably knew where its prey was, anyway. At least if they ran, they might stand a chance.

Before she could give instructions, the massive creature broke the sandy surface from right underneath the Bravo team. The marines that weren't snagged on its giant tentacle-claws were hurled metres into the air.

"Kill the fucker!" Cooper yelled, his voice cracking. Then his com went silent. Ryan wasn't sure where he was, whether he was caught by a giant spike, or laying somewhere on the ground. She caught glimpses of movement from some of the other Bravo team members who had landed hard on the sand, but none of them got back up to run. Or fight. Instantly, the creature sucked itself back into the sand, taking several of its prey with it.

Abruptly, she caught sight of two familiar vessels in the distance, approaching the planet's surface.

"Odessa to ground teams, what's your status?"

Ryan's heart skipped a beat at the sound of the Captain's voice, filling her with an ounce of hope.

"Odessa, prepare an air attack on our location," she said, as calmly as she could through sharp intakes of air. "Heavy casualties. Prepare to attack on my signal."

"Roger that, Shepard."

"Blow this place to hell and back, Sir!"

Now all she had to do was get them out of there.

"Who's still out there? C'mon, surprise me," she yelled into her com, hoping against hope that she'd get more than one reply.

In the distance, Reid had almost made it to the research station. He'd stopped to shoot at the beast that shattered the Bravo team, but he couldn't help them beyond that. The creature was firing more acid missiles his way, probably not happy that its prey was escaping.

"Corporal Reid, Ma'am." The redhead's was the only response.

"I see you, Reid. Just keep running" Ryan yelled.

"Don't worry 'bout me, Lieutenant!"

The ground rumbled yet again. Shepard unclasped another grenade and threw it to her left as she ran. Seconds after it exploded, one of the beasts emerged from the ground. The rumbling didn't stop however, and her feet slid to a halt as one of the beasts burst from the ground in front of her, its claws only inches away from piercing through her leg. She dodged it as best she could, running around to its flank and then heading straight ahead for the research station. She zigzagged across the sand, hoping it might help to confuse the beasts behind her and allow her to dodge any incoming acid missiles. It worked with the first two, but she misjudged the timing of the third and it slammed into the sand a few metres away, splashing onto Liang's suit, instantly engulfing him with corrosive green acid.

In that moment, Shepard hoped he was unconscious, or already dead, when the acid hit him. Gingerly, she let his body drop back behind her as she ducked slightly and curled up into a ball to avoid any of the acid splashing onto her suit. Back onto her feet and she was running again. It was only herself and Reid now, and whoever remained alive of the Bravo team, _if_ anyone did at all. Something inside told her to keep running, to save herself and Reid and get the hell out of there. Pure human instinct. Survival of the fittest. Logic dictated that the chance of survival of any of the Bravo team was next to nothing, but she had to know for sure. She wasn't going to allow the Odessa to drop any bombs if any of her fellow soldiers were still alive.

The two frigates flew overhead again, the noise of screaming vessels approached Ryan from behind. They were circling the area, awaiting her orders to bomb the site. She had to get out of there, fast. Two of the beasts were still behind her, as far as she knew. She hadn't turned around again to look, relying instead on her ears and sheer instinct to detect any incoming acid missiles.

She could only see two from the Bravo team, and neither was moving. The others were likely to have been sucked underground by the monster, either whole or in pieces. There was nothing she could do for those ones. She recognised the first marine as she approached; Chief Van Buren. Frantically, she checked for a pulse from his exposed neck. His helmet had been tossed aside in the chaos, landing elsewhere.

No pulse. Nothing.

"Dammit," Ryan cursed, and hurried over to the second one.

It was Cooper.

"Jesus Christ," she breathed. His left leg was missing. The surrounding sand had changed colour from orange to red. She knew there'd be no pulse, but tried anyway, as if pure will alone could breathe life back into the Commander.

The ground began to shake again, but differently from before. Much more violently, and she heard rocks topple over and break in the distance. An overpowering sense of doom shook her to the core. Her ears began to hurt, not unlike the sensation of compression in space but about ten times as bad. The reason why didn't matter right now, though. Staying alive _did_.

Instinctively, Ryan looked up and noticed the circling vessels were altering their course. The Odessa took a sharp dive with the Gallipoli following suit. It was like they had lost control, or something else was controlling them. They continued to downward spiral, coming within metres of each other. And then it happened.

She saw it in the distance before the sound had time to reach her ears. The dead sky lit up like a thousand light bulbs had just been turned on. Red and orange and white flashed in front of her eyes. Then the sound came, the monstrous boom of a collision, rattling her eardrums.

In front of her, Reid had stopped running to stare at it. She had to fight the urge to do the same.

"Don't stop!" she yelled into her com, hoping it would budge Reid from his statuesque state. "Corporal, snap out of it!" But no amount of yelling would get through to him. He just stood, staring at the sky, oblivious to his surroundings. Instead, she focussed on herself and her task at hand, every strike of her boot against the sand was a conscious effort, every pump of her arms was done in self-awareness. Her heart raced in double time to the rhythm of her feet. With heightened senses, she ran for her life.

There were at least three creatures. She knew that. Her only ride off this rock had just exploded. She knew that, too. And she was well aware of the fact that there was no one left to watch her back. Reid was probably shell shocked, non-responsive, at least. But if she could get them both to the research station, they might stand a chance.

Three steps forward and then she rolled, changing direction completely. She sprinted in that direction for several steps, before repeating the process and heading south towards the research station once again. Two of the creatures were probably heading her way, the third right in front of her. Her heart was racing, but her mind was fully alert. She smoothly unhooked another grenade from her belt and threw it east of her direction. Sure enough, one of the beasts emerged from the ground right where the grenade had exploded. But only one. The beast in front of her sucked itself back into the sand once again.

It was going to happen. It was just a matter of where and how long.

The ground shook once again and the largest of the creatures ruptured from the sand before her, its claw slicing clean through the side of Ryan's hardsuit and into the skin beneath. Agony besieged her, but she tucked it away to deal with later. With speed and the thought of opportunity, she quickly climbed up onto the creature's head, using one of its spikes as a handhold and not caring if it sliced her hands to ribbons. She pointed the barrel of her assault rifle to its head and began firing round after round into the creature's skull, driven by rage and the need for revenge. It thrashed about, trying to loosen her grip and throw her off, but she held on with all her might.

"You don't just kill my friends," she yelled into the air, competing with the sound of gunfire, "...and get away with it." Her rifle was on the verge of overheating, but the moment dictated that she didn't care, even though the creature seemed more angry than hurt.

From her ten metre high vantage point she could see Reid. He hadn't moved. Hanging on for her life as the creature swung her through the air, Ryan quickly unclasped an adhesive mine from her utility belt, armed it, and stuck it to the monster's scaly hide. One by one, she repeated the process, careful not to accidentally detonate them. She was losing her grip and had to act fast. The last one was set and a wave of anticipation swept over her. She'd have to time this just right.

The beast thrashed about again, giving her enough momentum for the jump. She took the opportunity, letting go of the giant creature's spiky tentacle as it swung her, falling outwards and downwards towards the ground. Time seemed to slow. She felt her body in mid-air, the slightly less than comfortable gravity leaving her lingering there for a moment longer than expected. Metres from the ground, her hand moved to the remote detonator on her belt.

It was now or never.

She pressed the button and held it, closing her eyes tightly shut, and waited for the inevitable.

A wave of heat overtook her before her ears even registered the sound of six mines being detonated in unison. The shock wave rattled her bones and blasted her several metres into the dusty Akuze air. It was an odd sensation, forceful but also gentle. Her eyes remained shut; she didn't want to know where she landed _until_ she landed.

A hard crash against hard sand, a mere metre from the first shed of the research station, reminded her of how gravity worked. It took her a moment to realise that she had landed, despite the sheer force of it. It knocked the air right out of her and splintered her helmet's visor into pieces. A large shard of it was missing, and her head felt strangely wet and sticky as blood oozed into her eyes.

She had landed in an awkward position, her shoulder and arm taking the brunt of it. Something was broken, somewhere, but she wasn't sure on the extent of it. She breathed in, not liking how it felt, and used whatever reserves of energy she had left to slither behind the first shed and rest her back against it in a sitting position. Her ears rang in protest of what her body had just witnessed. The eye she could open refused to see anything but red. Only barely conscious, she was completely unaware of the Alliance cruiser that came in to land at the LZ.

"Reid," she croaked. "There's a party here and you're invited. You coming?"

Slowly, her head slumped to the side and her eye closed.


End file.
